Incoherent rambling incoming.
I was a bit lucky to have read it at 11:30 last night (benefits of reading comics on a tablet I guess). It was another solid entry in the Grayson series. Maybe it was because of the lack of double-page spreads but this issue felt much longer than Grayson #8 - Cross My Heart and Hope to Die and Grayson #9 - Nemesis. There was certainly a lot going on, every member of the Grayson trinity, Dick, Tiger and Helena started to have serious doubts about the other. I like that even though Dick and Helena are miles apart, we still see their relationship develop (though not in a linear pattern). You do also feel sympathetic for Tiger because he's clearly being manipulated by Helena. Since the last issue of Grayson, the series does seem to take more of a Bond/Archer feel, the quick transition from Spain to Corisca to Rome (I think) really showed the diversity in the settings as well as how much effort these guys put into the series.
When Lex Luthor was initially announced to be showing up in this issue, I was excited but very curious to see where they were going with that because it does seem kind of random. But Tim & Tom weaved his appearance in with the kryptonian jewel and his cameo felt organic. Dick and Lex really bounced off each other, my favorite part was when Dick called Lex "Mr. Clean." It did take me a few times to understand what the hell Lex was doing to Dick, when I first read it, I thought Dick was having a stroke or something lol. Anyway, it's clear that Tim/Tom as well as DC want to put Dick in as many situations as possible where he interacts with a serious character as it's a great way to establish his personality and what he brings to the table (charm and heart). I hate to bring up Red Hood/Arsenal but there you basically have two idiots and the only distinguishing characteristic is that Jason has black hair with blue eyes and Roy has red hair with green eyes, also Roy is a slightly bigger dumb-ass than Jason. But besides being stupid and shooting things, we really don't know what those two bring.
The art was fantastic, Janin and Cox really work well together, especially in Corsica, the whole bit was gorgeous to look at. Janin drew a really great and smug Lex Luthor. Also, Dick in aviators, I could use more of that.
Overall I'd give it a 9 out of 10. Didn't have any significant flaws to speak of, only a few nitpicks like Tiger's dialogue in the beginning was a bit over the top.
Also did anyone else spot the Ninel cameo (at least I thought it was him).
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